Kiwi demo farm will improve millions of lives: President of Colombia

May 7, 2015

Kiwi demo farm will improve millions of lives: President of Colombia

The President of Colombia told those who attended the opening of the first NZ-Inc. dairy demonstration farm in the high tropics yesterday, that New Zealand's help in bringing best practice farming knowledge, animal and pasture genetics to Colombia will improve the lives of millions.

The farm is owned by Corpoica and situated in the Narino region of south Colombia 2800m above sea-level at which altitude the weather is a similar climate to the Waikato region.

"What we are doing today will have a great impact not just in the Narino region, but also the whole country, especially in our rural and dairy farming communities," said President Santos at yesterday's opening.

"The New Zealanders are perhaps the most efficient producers of milk in the world, and we are working with them, in order to get the necessary knowledge, technology and good practices for our farmers and milk producers to become more efficient at a global level."

Dairy Solutionz has been working in Colombia since 2012 and has been actively developing the demonstration dairy farm for the past 18 months.

"Having President Santos officially open our farm was a huge honour. It's a great endorsement for the Kiwis and Colombians working on the farm and others back here in New Zealand who have played a part in the establishment of this unique project," said Dairy Solutionz chief executive Derek Fairweather.

"The $2m development was funded by the Colombian government and Corpoica, which is the equivalent of our crown research institutes here in New Zealand.

The project directly benefits 14 New Zealand businesses through exports. The farm will also serve to establish proof of profitability, which will lead to increased technology exports in the future as these create value for Colombian farmers.